Ezr 10:1, Ezra encouraged to reform the strange marriages; Ezr 10:6, Ezra assembles the people; Ezr 10:9, The people repent, and promise amendment; Ezr 10:15, The care to perform it; Ezr 10:18, The names of them which had married strange wives.

let it: Neh 8:14, Neh 13:1-3; Isa 8:20; Shechaniah's counsel, which he was then so clear in, will not hold now. such marriages, it is certain, are contrary to the will of God, and ought not to be made; but they are not null. Our rule under the gospel is Quod fieri non debuit, factum valet, "That which ought not to have been done must, when done, abide." See note on Co1 7:12, Co1 7:13

the ninth month: That is, some time in December, which is the coldest and most rainy time of the year in Palestine. Dr. Russel, in his account of the weather at Aleppo, which very much resembles that in Judea, says, that the natives reckon the severity of the winter, which they call marbania, to last but forty days, beginning from the 12th of December, and ending the 20th of January, and that this computation comes in fact very near the truth, and that the air during this time is excessively piercing, even to those that are just come from a cold climate. Ezr 7:8, Ezr 7:9; Est 2:16

As thou hast said: They all resolved to do what Ezra had commanded; and they did put away their wives, even those by whom they had children (Ezr 10:44), each of whom doubtless received a portion according to the circumstances of her husband, and was not turned away desolate. Humanity must have dictated this, and no law of God is contrary to humanity.

the first day: The cases brought before the council were either so many, or so complicated, that, though they separated themselves from other employments, yet they were three whole months in examining into their affairs, and making the necessary separations required by the law. Ezr 10:17

gave their hands: They bound themselves in the most solemn manner to do as the rest of the delinquents had done, and make and acknowledgment to God of their iniquity, by offering each a ram for a trespass offering. Kg2 10:15; Ch1 29:24; Ch2 30:8 *marg. Lam 5:6; Gal 2:9

and some of them: This observation was probably intended to shew that only a few of them had children, and also how rigorously the law was put in execution. According to a passage in Justin Martyr's Dialogue with Trypho, a Jew, Ezra offered a paschal lamb on this occasion, and addressed the people thus: "And Ezra said to the people, This pass-over is our Saviour and our Refuge; and if ye will be persuaded of it, and let it enter into your hearts, that we are to humble to Him in a sign, and afterwards shall believe in Him, this place shall not be destroyed forever, saith the Lord of hosts; but, if ye will not believe in Him, nor hearken to his preaching, ye shall be a laughing-stock to the Gentiles." This was probably a marginal note added by some early Christian.